blm – The Past 24 Hours Or So

The Past 24 Hours or So

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Trump Administration

A new U.S. Postal Service rule bans clerks from signing mail-in ballots as witnesses while on duty.

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai sent the USPS a letter seeking an explanation as Alaskans complained that postal workers in her state had been telling voters they were not allowed to sign the ballots.

“This came as a surprise to the state because we know in past elections postal officials have served as witnesses,” Fenumiai wrote. “Rural Alaska relies heavily on postal officials as they are often sometimes the only option for a witness.

Alaska is one of several states that require people who vote by mail to have their ballots signed by a witness.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tweeted: “Earlier today, I spoke with Postmaster General DeJoy regarding his alleged pause in operational changes. During our conversation, he admitted he has no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other infrastructure that have been removed.”

“This, taken with his unwillingness to plan for adequate worker overtime, directly jeopardizes the election and threatens to disenfranchise voters in communities of color, while also slowing delivery of medicines to veterans.”

The Trump administration’s method of keeping the controversial acting head of the Bureau of Land Management in power even after his nomination is withdrawn is likely not legal, according to experts.

William Perry Pendley’s nomination was withdrawn amid doubts he had the votes to be confirmed because of his opposition to federal ownership of public lands and his controversial comments on climate change and the Black Lives Matter movement.

But Pendley is still running the agency because of succession orders dictating that the acting chief will lead the department if the director role remains unfilled.

Legal experts say the succession orders are dubious because Pendley is essentially giving himself the authority to act as director.

A federal major disaster declaration approved Monday does not include financial assistance for Iowans recovering from last week’s devastating derecho, despite President Donald Trump tweeting he approved the state’s application in “FULL.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request for $82.7 million to cover the 8,273 homes that were damaged or destroyed was not approved. Neither were her requests for $3.77 billion for agriculture damage to farmland, grain bins and buildings and $100 million for private utilities repair.

The Trump administration is pushing to sell F-35 fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates, officials said. Israel and Congress may object.

“The president’s talked before about wanting to purchase Greenland, but one time before we went down, he told us not only did he want to purchase Greenland, he actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico. Could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland,” Miles Taylor, a former DHS official, said. “Because in his words Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.”

President Trump praised Laura Loomer, a far-right candidate with a history of spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric, after her Republican primary victory in a Florida House race.

Twitter says it will not reverse its decision to ban far-right activist and self-described “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer from its platform after her Republican primary win in Florida.

President Trump offered measured praise for followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory,

“I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. But I don’t know much about the movement,” he said at a press briefing.

“I’ve heard these are people that love our country…I don’t know really anything about it other than they do supposedly like me.”

A reporter attempted to explain to the president that QAnon is a conspiracy theory that Trump and his allies are working together to expose and arrest an underground cabal of global elites who control the government and run child sex trafficking rings.

The once-fringe movement has grown dramatically in the last few years, with estimates that put its adherents in the hundreds of thousands.

That expansion has been enough to have the FBI label the loose community of believers as a domestic terror threat.

President Trump has just announced that his administration would notify the United Nations of plans to restore “virtually” all sanctions on Iran.

Former FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith pleaded guilty to falsifying a document to justify surveillance of a former Trump campaign adviser as part of the 2016 investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

Protests/Racial and Social Issues

A realtor who had been with RE/MAX for nearly 50 years was fired for removing Black Lives Matter signs in an affluent neighborhood where she sells homes.

RE/MAX Alliance Owner Chad Ochsner said, “We’re not a company that can condone trespassing on people’s private property and theft.” “For us, it doesn’t matter what the politics is.”

Ashton Bindrup, a waiter at an Ogden, UT restaurant, found a bigoted message written on a cash tip that was left for him.

The bill, marked in pen with the words, “Get out of America, Fag!” was left behind by three adults — all of whom were wearing “Trump 2020” hats.

“They’d asked me for a pen during the meal,” Bindrup explained. “They paid with card, but it was all an electric system so there was no receipt… that’s why I thought it was odd when they asked for the pen.”

A Long Island man and his live-in girlfriend have been arrested after their black next-door neighbor accused them of a yearslong campaign of racist intimidation that included throwing feces and a dead squirrel onto her property.

The New York Police Department admits it used facial recognition software during its investigation targeting Black Lives Matter organizer Derrick Ingram, who saw his apartment surrounded by officers, police dogs and a helicopter earlier this month as part of the operation. He was allegedly being targeted for assault charges after yelling into a megaphone directed at an officer.

A new report from the American Civil Liberties Union reveals that even though Americans have spent most of 2020 inside their homes social distancing because of the coronavirus pandemic, fatal police shootings haven’t stopped or slowed down. As of June 30, law enforcement officers had shot and killed 511 people.

Presidential Campaign

President Trump’s reelection campaign sued New Jersey over the state’s decision to use a hybrid voting model for November’s election in which all residents will be mailed a ballot, leaving it up to them to decide if they would like to vote by mail or in person.

The Trump campaign is suing three Iowa counties over their absentee ballot request forms, marking the latest effort to go after states and localities that seek to make it easier to vote by mail this fall. The counties were sending ballots with some personal information already filled out for voters as they argued blank forms could disenfranchise voters who do not know their voting pin or driver’s license number.

Sources: ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Trump Administration, Presidential Campaign, and Protests Updates

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Trump Administration

President Trump’s advisers were wary to talk to him about military options over fears he’d accidentally start a war, CNN’s Jim Sciutto reported Thursday.

Sciutto, CNN’s chief national security correspondent, said multiple former administration officials told him that as tensions rose with North Korea and Iran, Trump’s advisers told foreign officials that they did not know what the president would choose to do next.

President Trump said that he had reimposed aluminum tariffs on Canada, reigniting a point of contention that had been cleared up prior to the finalization of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which went into effect in July.

Vice President Pence told Christian Broadcast Network’s David Brody, “Look, we have great respect for the institution of the Supreme Court of the United States, but Chief Justice John Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives.” – a rare direct rebuke of the top justice after he ruled against the Trump administration in a series of recent cases.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday said “most believe” the massive explosion that killed at least 100 people in Beirut was an accident, contradicting President Trump, who a day prior called the blast an “attack.”

The Pentagon is flying aid to Lebanon following the massive explosion that killed at least 150 people and injured thousands more in Beirut.

The Trump administration targeted eleven individuals with sanctions over China’s crackdown on Hong Kong, accusing the chief executive of the autonomous territory Carrie Lam of “implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.”

Presidential Campaign

President Trump claimed Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, is “against God” as he levied a stream of attacks on his likely opponent in the November election.

“Take away your guns, take away your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything,” Trump said, standing behind a podium with the presidential seal. “Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He’s against God. He’s against guns. He’s against energy.”

Joe Biden said his faith is the “bedrock foundation of my life” after President Trump accused him of being “against God.”

In a statement released via email, Biden criticized Trump, “It’s beneath the office he holds and it’s beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders.”

“However, like the words of so many other insecure bullies, President Trump’s comments reveal more about him than they do about anyone else,” he added. “They show us a man willing to stoop to any low for political gain.”

As a result of the Committee to Defend the President, a pro-Trump super PAC’s repeated sharing of content determined by third-party fact-checkers to be false, Facebook is banning ads from the Committee to Defend the President.

The Commission on Presidential Debates rejected the Trump campaign’s request to modify the presidential debate schedule so the first debate occurs before states begin early voting.

Joe Biden was asked about his view toward normalizing relations with Cuba and pivoted into a comparison of diversity in African American and Latino communities.

“And by the way, what you all know but most people don’t know, unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things. You go to Florida you find a very different attitude about immigration in certain places than you do when you’re in Arizona. So it’s a very different, a very diverse community,” Biden told a panel of journalists.

Joe Biden in a Thursday night tweet clarified his comments comparing African American and Latino communities.

“Earlier today, I made some comments about diversity in the African American and Latino communities that I want to clarify. In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith—not by identity, not on issues, not at all.

Throughout my career I’ve witnessed the diversity of thought, background, and sentiment within the African American community. It’s this diversity that makes our workplaces, communities, and country a better place.”

The top US counterintelligence official publicly announced Friday a series of foreign threats facing the upcoming 2020 presidential election, warning in particular that Russia is using a range of measures to “primarily denigrate” former Vice President Joe Biden and that China prefers President Trump does not win reelection.

The State Department confirmed that it was behind text messages sent to Russians and Iranians promoting a multimillion-dollar bounty for information on foreign efforts to meddle in this year’s U.S. elections.

Protests/Racial and Social Justice

The U.S. Navy SEALs have reportedly cut ties with an independent Navy SEAL museum after a video surfaced over the weekend showing dogs participating in a demonstration in which they attacked a man in a Colin Kaepernick jersey.

Less than a year after being appointed, the now former Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales has been demoted to captain over the department’s recent use of tear gas during protests.

“His conduct is unbecoming, filled with ethical lapses and flawed decisions,” said Commissioner Raymond Robakowski

Video released this week following a North Carolina judge’s order shows a Black man in apparent medical distress repeatedly telling officers, “I can’t breathe,” days before he died in a hospital.

John Elliott Neville, 56, of Greensboro, also can be heard telling officers, “Let me go!” and “Help me!” and calling out, “Mama!” during the episode a day after his December 1 arrest. He became unresponsive during the incident and died later at a hospital.

The five corrections officers and the nurse who attended to Neville leading up to his death have been charged with involuntary manslaughter by Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill. They have been relieved of duty, the sheriff’s office said.

Sources: ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus, Racial & Social Justice, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

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Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

The U.S. reported 48,694 new cases and 515 additional deaths.

In a racially charged early morning tweet, President Trump accused the press of failing to report coronavirus outbreaks in other nations as cases surge in the U.S.

“Big China Virus breakouts all over the World, including nations which were thought to have done a great job. The Fake News doesn’t report this. USA will be stronger than ever before, and soon!” Trump tweeted.

NOTE: Trump has repeatedly claimed the high numbers in the U.S. are the result of more testing, but the positivity rate has remained high as well, averaging 8 percent over the past seven days.

When asked about why the U.S. has not been able to stop the coronavirus spread, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said, “Across America right now, people are on the move,” she said. “And so all of our discussions about social distancing and decreasing gatherings to under 10 — as I traveled around the country, I saw all of America moving.”

Birx added that the U.S. is in a “new phase” of the pandemic and called on all Americans to wear masks and to practice social distancing and proper personal hygiene.

“What we’re seeing today is different from March and April,” she said. “It is extraordinarily widespread. It’s into the rural as equal urban areas. And to everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus.”

White House coronavirus testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir said the anti-malaria drug touted by President Trump is not beneficial as a coronavirus treatment. “At this point in time, there’s been five randomized-controlled, placebo-controlled trials that do not show any benefit to hydroxychloroquine, so at this point in time, we don’t recommend that as a treatment,” he said. “Right now, hydroxychloroquine, I can’t recommend that,” he added.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected the prospect of extending $600 unemployment benefits throughout the the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting that the payments led to some out-of-work Americans being “overpaid.”

Doug Pederson, the head coach of the National Football League’s Philadelphia Eagles, has tested positive for Covid-19.

New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Céspedes decided to opt out of the season “for Covid-related” reasons.

Tennis star Nick Kyrgios announced that he will not play at the upcoming US Open due to the coronavirus pandemic.

36 crew members on Norwegian Arctic cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen have tested positive. As a result, 387 passengers from two July expeditions on the cruise ship have been asked to self-quarantine.

New Jersey reported 331 new cases and six additional deaths.

Florida reported 7,047 new cases and 62 additional deaths.

Fifteen state-supported Covid-19 testing sites will reopen Monday after closing because of Tropical Storm Isaias.

Miami-Dade students will continue virtual learning until at least October.

At least 46 Ohio bars and restaurants have been cited for violations related to Covid-19 since May.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced 463 new cases and two new deaths. Of the new cases, 11 were in children age 5 or younger.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told CNN the state will not shut down bars and restaurants despite the recent spike in cases because “so far we have not seen any correlation between an increase in cases and lifting of restrictions.”

Protests/Racial and Social Justice

Colorado is declaring racism a public health crisis after employees inside the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment put pressure on its top health official to address the issue.

Protesters gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico to demonstrate against the Trump administration for deploying federal law enforcement to the city like those that were used in Portland, Oregon.

U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe will host a conversation on the cultural, social and political climate in the United States in an HBO special featuring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, “1619” founder Nikole Hannah-Jones, and comedian Hasan Minhaj.

Three members of Allentown’s city council say they support a resolution to censure two other council members over their participation in Black Lives Matter protests.

The resolution demanding a censure and no-confidence vote against council members Ce-Ce Gerlach and Joshua Siegel stems from alleged conflicts of interest for participating in the protests in the city, raising questions about their objectivity in matters related to the city’s police department

Trump Administration

Seven Marines and one sailor who went missing following a training accident off the coast of Southern California are presumed dead.

The Pentagon has not regularly assessed risks posed to contractors by climate change, potentially jeopardizing the department’s ability to carry out its mission, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.

Microsoft said it would continue to pursue acquiring TikTok after speaking with President Trump, who seemed to be backing off a pledge to ban the app.

President Trump has agreed to give China’s ByteDance 45 days to negotiate a sale of popular short-video app TikTok to Microsoft.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, the controversial Trump administration pick for a top Pentagon post, has formally withdrawn his nomination to be the Defense Department undersecretary of defense for policy and has been designated “the official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.”

Presidential Campaign

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will not attend the Republican National Convention in North Carolina, saying in a letter to the RNC chairwoman that his top priority remains combatting the coronavirus pandemic in his home state.

President Trump vowed to challenge a bill approved Sunday by the Nevada legislature that would expand mail-in voting in the state for the November general election. Trump accused Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), who is expected to sign the bill into law, of using the novel coronavirus to “steal” the election and make it “impossible” for Republicans to win in Nevada.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Protest/Racial & Social Justice, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

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Protests/Racial and Social Justice

President Trump insisted that federal agents would not leave Portland until Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown “clear[s] out” protesters from the city, a day after Brown announced that she had reached an agreement with Trump’s administration to begin a phased withdrawal of federal tactical teams.

A middle school teacher in Kentucky has resigned instead of facing disciplinary proceedings, after making racist online comments. Responding to a video of protestors apparently in a road or parking lot, she suggested that, if run over, the victims would “blend in with the pavement.”

Amid the ongoing clashes between protesters and federal officers in downtown Portland, the Department of Homeland Security created intelligence reports about two U.S. journalists it claims reported on leaked, damning information about law enforcement operations.

Michael Jordan and his Jordan Brand are set to donate $2.5 million to organizations combating voter suppression of Black Americans across the country.

Players with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz restarted the NBA’s season by kneeling during the National Anthem.

Moments before tipoff on Thursday evening, the players, who were joined by coaches and game officials, all took a knee.

The players also wore black “Black Lives Matter” shirts both during warm-ups and the National Anthem.

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has been permanently banned from Twitter for repeatedly breaking the social media site’s rules blocking hate speech.

Trump Administration

President Trump expressed his sadness over the death of Herman Cain, who passed away from Covid-19 after spending nearly a month in the hospital with the virus. “He was a very special person, and I got to know him very well.”

Amazon has received authorization from the FCC to proceed with Project Kuiper, its initiative to launch a fleet of low-orbiting satellites that would be used to provide broadband internet access to underserved communities in the U.S.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and other top officials reportedly worked to preserve memos by former FBI Director James Comey and other key documents in the Russia investigation amid fears that President Trump would interfere in the probe.

Federal prosecutors lifted a gag order on Michael Cohen, allowing President Trump’s former attorney to continue writing a tell-all memoir as he serves out his three-year prison sentence at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) has proposed a new bill aiming to prevent oil and gas drilling near polar bear dens, targeting the Trump administration’s plans to open up a wildlife refuge in Alaska for drilling.

A federal appeals court will revisit an earlier decision ordering a district court judge to allow the Department of Justice to withdraw its criminal charges against former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Presidential Campaign

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) reportedly declined to answer at a closed-door committee hearing whether he has received materials from Ukrainian sources meant to damage former Vice President Joe Biden’s reputation ahead of the 2020 election.

The Trump campaign has paused its digital advertising efforts to “review” its strategy, a campaign official told NBC News. The campaign official pointed to the recent changes in staff as the reason.

47 percent of Democratic or left-leaning Generation Z voters said in a new poll that they have seen far more ads from President Trump’s reelection campaign online than ads from former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Protests/Racial and Social Justice, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

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Protests/Racial and Social Justice

Democrat Jaime Harrison went off on Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for running a Facebook ad that features an apparently darkened image of the Senate hopeful, blasting Graham for “playing a part in a 400-year history of an Old South that had no room for people who looked like me.” Harrison has fought hard in the race to unseat Graham, who is facing one of his toughest reelection bids yet.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) said the federal government has agreed to withdraw agents from Portland, a step toward ending a standoff with President Trump over the use of federal force, although the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would maintain its presence until conditions improved.

A number of people arrested at Portland protests say the terms of their release prevent them from attending protests going forward — a stipulation First Amendment experts have called cause for concern.

The City Council in the border town of Laredo, Texas, voted to paint “Defund The Wall” on the street in front of a downtown federal courthouse in a similar fashion to the many “Black Lives Matter” streets painted in cities across the country.

Douglas County (NV) Sheriff Dan Coverley told a local library not to bother calling 911 for help after it expressed support for Black Lives Matter.

In a statement The Douglas County public library had denounced, “all acts of violence, racism and disregard for human rights.” “We support #BlackLivesMatter.” “We resolutely assert and believe that all forms of racism, hatred, inequality and injustice don’t belong in our society.”

Coverley posted an open letter on the sheriff’s office website, “Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help,” Coverley wrote.

“I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior, since those are just some of the recent calls my office has assisted you with in the past.”

In what the state attorney says appears to be a case of racial profiling, Luis Santos, a former Florida theme park security guard, has been arrested for falsely detaining a Black teen who was on his way to basketball practice, prosecutors said.

“You work here? You live here?” asked Santos, 54, as he recorded with a cellphone, according to excerpts released by prosecutors. The teen stopped and answered Santos’ questions before the situation escalated.

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Santos, stepping out of his vehicle. “You’re being detained. You’re not going anywhere.” Santos held his hand over his pocket as if he had a weapon. He also forced the victim to put his hands in the air.

Santos called 911 claiming that the unidentified teenager was seen on video “breaking into cars” and that he thought the teen had stolen a bike. Prosecutors with the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office said there was no evidence of any crimes.

Trump Administration

The U.S. military unveiled plans to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany, in fallout from President Donald Trump’s long-simmering feud with Berlin, but said it will keep nearly half of those forces in Europe to address tension with Russia.

U.S. officials stressed that only a relatively small number of advanced units would move anytime soon. The rest of the troop movements would take years to fully implement, in part given the potentially billions of dollars in additional cost.

Lawmakers in both parties are panning the Trump administration’s plan.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) blasted the move as a “grave error,” while Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NB) said President Trump shows a “lack of strategic understanding.”

“Once more, now with feeling: U.S. troops aren’t stationed around the world as traffic cops or welfare caseworkers – they’re restraining the expansionary aims of the world’s worst regimes, chiefly China and Russia,” Sasse said in a statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “are reckless – and this withdrawal will only embolden them,” Sasse added. “We should be leading our allies against China and Russia, not abandoning them. Withdrawal is weak.”

The Trump administration is sending additional federal agents and funding to Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit, expanding a program that has targeted Democratic-run cities facing increases in violent crime.

The Trump administration’s controversial “public charge” rule that would make it easier for immigration officials to deny entry to people likely to rely on government assistance has been blocked by a federal judge who cited the coronavirus pandemic.

President Trump mistakenly tagged an Ohio HVAC company as Air Force One in a tweet, prompting the company to offer its services.

“As a family owned business, we don’t take sides in politics but we were flattered by the mention… but if this is an invitation to provide mechanical services in the White House or on Air Force One, we’re all ears!”

President Trump attacked Fox News tweeting:“I was on Air Force One flying to the Great State of Texas, where I just landed. It is AMAZING in watching @FoxNews how different they are from four years ago. Not even watchable. They totally forgot who got them where they are!”

President Trump confirmed that he has never confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin with intelligence reports that Russian units paid Taliban-linked militants to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

During a clip from an interview with “Axios on HBO,” Trump said he “never discussed it” with Putin during a phone call last week.

“That was a phone call to discuss other things, and frankly that’s an issue that many people said was fake news,” Trump said when pressed about why the matter wasn’t raised.

NOTE: The CIA has been analyzing the intelligence for several months and has assessed that the Russian program is real. Intelligence analysts believe that the bounties resulted in the deaths of three Marines killed in April 2019 when the vehicle they were traveling in was blown up just outside Bagram.

More than 50 facilities across the country that have faced enforcement actions for alleged Clean Water Act violations are among those taking advantage of an EPA policy that lets companies forgo pollution monitoring during the pandemic.

In a tweet, the president suggested delaying the November election because of the false claim there are problems with the legitimacy of mail-in voting: “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

The U.S. economy contracted at its steepest pace since the Great Depression. The economy shrunk at a rate of 32.9 percent during the second quarter of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic spurred an economic collapse of record-breaking speed and size, the Commerce Department reported.

The Labor Department reported that initial unemployment claims rose for the second week in a row, with 1.4 million registering for benefits for the first time.

Presidential Campaign

President Trump’s reelection campaign has halted new ad buys in Michigan in recent days as polling shows former Vice President Joe Biden with a widening lead in the state.

Trump’s recent withdrawal came as his campaign shifted advertising dollars to other battlegrounds like Iowa.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Protests/Racial & Social Justice, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

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Protests/Racial and Social Justice

Juneteenth, the day celebrating Black freedom from slavery, is now an official holiday in Massachusetts.

The Trump administration is sending more federal agents to Portland, Oregon in response to further protests and demonstrations in front of a federal courthouse that have been labeled by police as “riots” though the agents being sent reportedly rarely have any riot training. Clashes between federal officials and protesters have become violent with both protesters and law enforcement injured.

The mayors of six U.S. cities appealed to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarized federal agents to cities that don’t want them.

“This administration’s egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen,” the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City Albuquerque and Washington D.C. wrote to leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.

Riots in downtown Richmond over the weekend were instigated by white supremacists under the guise of Black Lives Matter, according to law enforcement officials.

Protesters tore down police tape and pushed forward toward Richmond police headquarters, where they set a city dump truck on fire.

An Army National Guard officer who witnessed protesters forcibly removed from Lafayette Square last month is contradicting claims by the attorney general and the Trump administration that they did not speed up the clearing to make way for the president’s photo opportunity minutes later.

A new statement by Adam D. DeMarco, an Iraq veteran who now serves as a major in the D.C. National Guard, also casts doubt on the claims by acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan that violence by protesters spurred Park Police to clear the area at that time with unusually aggressive tactics. DeMarco said that “demonstrators were behaving peacefully” and that tear gas was deployed in an “excessive use of force.”

New York City police have arrested at least eight people for vandalizing the city’s Black Lives Matter mural since it was painted on the street in front of Trump Tower just a few weeks ago.

Trump Administration

First lady Melania Trump announced plans to renovate the White House Rose Garden.

The plans call for renewing the space to more closely resemble the original 1962 design of the garden during the Kennedy administration.

Trump said he won’t pay his respects to the late civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis as he lies in state at the US Capitol.

Trump blasted Twitter’s trending section. In a Tweet, he wrote: “So disgusting to watch Twitter’s so-called “Trending”, where sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend. Really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair!”

President Trump’s lawyers told a federal court that a New York City prosecutor’s subpoena for his tax returns “amounts to harassment of the President.”

Trump’s lawyers argued in an amended lawsuit filed that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office overstepped its authority by seeking eight years’ worth of tax returns and financial records from the president’s accounting firm.

Presidential Campaign

360 democratic delegates, mainly Bernie Sanders supporters, say they’ll oppose a party platform that does not include Medicare for All.

Trump’s Campaign announced its all-star line-up of speakers for the new scaled down Republican Convention. Ted Nugent, Scott Baio, Antonio Sabato Jr, and Diamond and Silk will all appear virtually in Zoom boxes before Trump’s acceptance speech.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus, Protests/Social Justice, and Trump Administration Updates

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Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

The U.S. recorded 61,173 new cases and 558 new deaths.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the federal government will extend a moratorium on evictions as part of the next round of coronavirus relief, which will also include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

White House negotiators want to scale back the next coronavirus relief legislation.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows both mentioned the possibility of moving forward on a less ambitious proposal.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows reiterated that the Trump administration and Senate Republicans won’t extend a $600 boost in unemployment benefits in a forthcoming coronavirus relief package.

Meadows argued the original unemployment insurance measure, which has begun expiring, shouldn’t be extended because it “paid people to stay home” and disincentivized unemployed people from finding work.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had a stark prediction for the vote on any new coronavirus stimulus bill. “Half the Republicans are going to vote no to any phase 4 package, that’s just a fact,” Graham said.

CDC director Robert Redfield said that he would “absolutely” send his grandchildren back to school in the fall despite concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, with the exception of one grandchild who has a medical condition.

President Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Google will extend its work-from-home policy until at least July 2021.

The Miami Marlins, who had four players test positive during their opening series against the Philadelphia Phillies, had an additional eight players and two coaches test positive on Monday. The team has cancelled its home opener versus the Baltimore Orioles.

New York reported 536 new cases.

Pennsylvania reported 800 new cases and four new deaths.

South Carolina reported 1,170 new coronavirus cases and 25 new deaths. The state is now at a 15.6% test positivity rate, over triple the desired rate.

After setting a record for Covid-19 cases reported in a single day on Friday, Georgia reported 2,765 new cases, 1,022 fewer than Saturday. Three new deaths were, down from 53 on Saturday.

Florida reported 9,259 new cases and 77 deaths.

At least 46 Florida hospitals have reached ICU capacity and show zero ICU beds available.

Miami Dade County reported a daily coronavirus positivity rate today of 18%. 5% is the desired maximum.

Thus far, the Florida Department of Health has not seen any Covid-19 outbreaks associated with the reopening of theme parks in the area.

The Lauderhill (FL) Police Department in Florida tweeted Sunday: “It is with a heavy heart that the Lauderhill Police Department announce the passing of our Brother, Officer Corey Pendergrass, who died this morning of complications related to Covid-19. Corey has honorably served with us since 1997. We will miss you tremendously.”

Louisiana recorded 3,840 new coronavirus cases, 94% are tied to community spread, and 48 new deaths.

Protests/Racial and Social Justice

A group of about 30 protesters gathered outside the Virginia home of acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to voice their opposition to the tactics federal authorities are using in Portland, OR.

Oakland, CA police declared a Saturday protest an unlawful assembly after “agitators” set fire to a courthouse and vandalized a police station.

Philadelphia area NAACP Chairman Rodney Muhammad’s posting of an anti-Semitic meme to his Facebook page on Saturday was met boisterous opposition.

After calling slavery a “necessary evil” as part of the country’s founding, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) faced criticism. Cotton was discussing his bill that would reduce federal funding for any school that includes The New York Times’s 1619 Project in its curriculum.

In an interview, the senator accused the 1619 Project, a series of pieces by writers for the Times that examines the history of slavery in the U.S. and its role in the country’s founding, of being “left-wing propaganda.”

Police have detained a suspect after a man was shot and killed during a protest in Austin, Texas, on Saturday night.

Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka criticized athletes who protest police brutality and racial injustice by kneeling during the national anthem.

“If you can’t respect our national anthem, get the hell out of the country.” Ditka continued, “You don’t protest against the flag, and you don’t protest against this country who’s given you the opportunities to make a living playing a sport that you never thought would happen. So, I don’t want to hear all the crap.”

Trump Administration

In a racially charged Tweet, the president said scheduling conflicts will prevent him from throwing out the first pitch at a NY Yankees’ game in August.

“Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!”

Germany has rejected a proposal by. President Donald Trump to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin back into the G7.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus, Protests, and Presidential Campaign Updates

Read Time: 4 Minutes

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

The U.S. reported 75,193 new cases and 1,178 new deaths.

There are at least 4,137,411 total U.S. cases registered and at least 145,860 deaths.

Approximately 60 percent of restaurants that have had to shut down during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have permanently closed their doors.

Eighteen states set single-day case records over the last week.

Covid-19 hospitalizations fell slightly across New York state.

The state reported a 1.05% infection rate after 71,466 people were tested and 750 of those were positive. The state recorded a total of 10 Covid-19 deaths.

A New Jersey judge ruled that the state government may forcibly close Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, which had stayed open despite state orders to close due to Covid-19 concerns.

The gym has also been ordered to “not obstruct [state health authorities] in any way from carrying out the terms of this order.”

Rutgers football has halted its voluntary workouts due to six recent positive cases of the novel coronavirus and the entire program has entered quarantine.

Pennsylvania reported 1,054 cases and 13 deaths.

Maryland reported 1,288 new cases, the highest daily count of new cases since May 19.

Georgia reported 3,787 new cases reported, fewer than the state’s record of 4,813 new cases on Friday. There were 53 new deaths.

Florida reported 12,115 new cases and 124 additional deaths. Florida has now surpassed New York in total coronavirus cases.

Covid-19 hospitalizations in Florida have increased by 79% since July 4.

Fifty hospitals in Florida have no ICU beds available.

Another 42 hospitals have 10% or less ICU capacity available.

At least 600 Florida teachers have requested living wills as they prepare for schools in the state to reopen even as coronavirus numbers swell.

Anti-gay Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert (R), who has referred to coronavirus as a “hoax” and called mask mandates “draconian,” is now hospitalized with COVID-19.

Texas reported 8,112 new cases and 168 new deaths.

Arizona reported a two-day uptick in coronavirus cases. The state had 3,357 positive coronavirus cases Friday and reported 3,748 positive cases Saturday.

The state reported 144 deaths Saturday, the second highest day recorded in the state. Last Saturday, the state reported 147 Covid-19 deaths.

Washington expanded the requirement for face masks to any indoor public and non-public setting where social distancing cannot be maintained

Protests/Race Relations

A group of military veterans, self-described as “Wall of Vets,” joined Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland as part of an effort to protect them from Department of Homeland Security forces.

The veterans were masked and goggled, some wore black hoodies emblazoned with “Black Lives Matter,” others attire designating their service branch, many held signs expressing opposition to recent attacks on demonstrators.

Seattle protesters threw rocks, bottles, and fireworks at officers. Others set fire to a portable trailer and a construction site, police said in a series of tweets.

At least 45 people were arrested on charges of assaulting officers, obstruction and failure to disperse. Three officers were injured, including one who was hospitalized with a leg injury caused by an explosive. Police described the protests as riots.

Rick Wiles, a prominent pastor and conspiracy theorist called on President Trump to use “hollow-point bullets” against protesters in Portland.

While addressing Mark Meadows, Wiles called on the president to make use of bullets purchased by federal agencies during the Obama administration.

“[White House Chief of Staff] Mr. Meadows, please tell President Trump that he is now in possession of Obama bullets — 2 billion ‘Bama bullets. You’re in possession of them now,” Wiles said. “You got the ‘Bama bullets and you can put down the [insurrection] … you can put it down. You have the ‘Bama bullets in your hands.”

“‘Bama bullets” refers to conspiracy theories among conservatives about a government takeover during the last administration. Ammunition was “hoarded” by Obama “to round up Christians and constitutionalists under President Hillary Clinton.”

As the national anthem was being played prior to the WNBA’s season-opening game between the Seattle Storm and the New York Liberty, all players from both teams returned to their respective locker rooms as a sign of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The House and Senate this week both passed versions of the National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Pentagon to rename bases and other property that are named after Confederate leaders. The Senate bill would require changes in three years, while the House bill would force changes in one year.

In an interview, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-OK) said, “We’re going to see to it that provision doesn’t survive the bill,” Inhofe told the Oklahoman. “I’m not going to say how at this point.”

“I spoke to highly respected (Chairman) Senator @JimInhofe, who has informed me that he WILL NOT be changing the names of our great Military Bases and Forts, places from which we won two World Wars (and more!),” Trump tweeted.

Trump has threatened to veto the NDAA if the final version that reaches his desk requires name changes.

Presidential Campaign

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is seen as the favorite as Joe Biden nears a decision on his vice presidential pick. Many see the California lawmaker as the least risky pick for Biden, who is under pressure to select a woman of color as his running mate, and someone who would be prepared to be president on day one.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, which runs the 40th president’s library near Los Angeles, demanded that President Trump and the Republican National Committee quit raising campaign money by using Ronald Reagan’s name and likeness.

“It was simply handled with a phone call mid-last week to the RNC, and they agreed to stop,” Reagan Foundation chief marketing officer Melissa Giller said in an email Saturday.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Protests/Race Relations, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Protests/Race Relations

Protesters faced tear gas and federal agents outside the central police precinct in Portland as Black Lives Matter demonstrations continued for a 56th consecutive day.

President Trump took a dig at Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D), mocking him for getting tear-gassed at protests in Oregon the previous night.

“He made a fool out of himself,” Trump said. “He wanted to be among the people, so he went into the crowd. And so they knocked the hell out of him, so that was the end of him.”

A federal judge denied a request from Oregon’s attorney general to stop federal agents from arresting people in Portland as daily protests and demonstrations over systemic racism and police brutality roil the city.

The Air Force denied that a surveillance plane flew secret missions from an airport in Portland, amid ongoing protests in the city, gathered information about the demonstrations.

The U.S. Justice Department said it has arrested 18 people and charged them for alleged crimes committed during recent anti-racism protests in Portland.

Charges included assaulting a federal officer, trespassing, and creating a disturbance.

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) expressed agreement with President Trump’s plan to deploy federal police to the city during a Wednesday evening phone call with the president, according to the mayor’s office.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) slammed an anti-LGBT resolution that was passed by a majority of the state’s Republican Party delegates earlier this year, calling it “hurtful and divisive” after a top GOP official also apologized for the language.

“LGBT practices are unhealthy and dangerous, sometimes endangering or shortening life and sometimes infecting society at large,” reads part of the resolution, one of many policy statements that were passed in April.

A 900-pound bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee and busts of seven other Confederates that had occupied places of honor in Virginia’s Old House Chamber for decades, including those of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, were removed.

Cops shouldn’t fear accidentally breaking the city’s new law restricting their use of chokeholds on criminal suspects because no city district attorney will prosecute them, the NYPD’s Chief of Department told a closed-door meeting of police brass.

“We can’t be afraid. We’ve got every D.A. come out and say they’re not going to charge that,” Chief Terence Monahan said

The official account of MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays tweeted: “Today is Opening Day, which means it’s a great day to arrest the killers of Breonna Taylor” Taylor was shot and killed in her apartment by Louisville plain-clothed police executing a “no knock” warrant.

President Trump erupted last week after Defense Secretary Mark Esper issued a new military-wide directive that was a de facto ban on the display of the Confederate flag.

According to people familiar with his reaction, Trump was fuming over Esper’s carefully worded memo that did not mention the flag by name, but effectively banned it from being flown on military installations.

A senior White House official who declined to be named said, the “story is inaccurate. When the matter was raised to the President, he was not angry.”

Trump Administration

In a follow up to an earlier story about the president asking his Ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson to ask British officials to steer The British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, career diplomat Lewis Lukens, Johnson’s deputy in London, confirmed that he warned the ambassador that pressing British officials to boost Trump’s private business would be unethical. Lukens was later fired for making complimentary references about former president Obama.

A reporter asked the president whether he asked Johnson to do this. Trump replied:

“No, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about that, about Turnberry. Turnberry is a highly respected course, as you know, one of the best in the world. And I read a story about it today and I had never, I never spoke to Woody Johnson about doing that. No.”

The New York Times initially reported that complaints were raised with the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General. “The findings were submitted in February, and the complaints are expected to be included, according to one of the investigators. It is not clear why the review has not been made public.”

NBC News added that an IG report “was completed and marked classified as of May; an unclassified version has yet to be released.”

Tang Juan, a Chinese scientist who had been hiding in the country’s San Francisco consulate after accusations of visa fraud, is now in U.S. custody. Government officials also accused Beijing of using its diplomatic outposts to run an espionage network to steal intellectual property from US businesses, universities and research centers.

“PAW Patrol,” a cartoon about rescue dogs who protect their community, clarified on Friday that it had not been canceled after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed it had been as a result of “cancel culture.”

President Trump this week signed a measure to allow U.S. defense contractors to bypass a 33-year-old arms treaty and sell more large armed drones to foreign militaries, a State Department official told reporters.

President Trump signed four executive orders aimed at lowering drug prices. It is unclear when the moves can be finalized and take effect.

President Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former congressman and decorated runner Jim Ryun during a White House ceremony. Ryun was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 1966 and set records in the mile and 1,500 meters in 1967. He won a silver medal in the 1968 Olympics.

Trump told Barstool a detailed story about getting booed with Melania at the Robin Hood Foundation charity dinner around the night he announced his campaign in 2015.

They haven’t gone to that dinner since 2011. And the 2015 event was a month before he announced.

The president is spending the weekend at his golf club at Bedminster, NJ.

Presidential Campaign

William Evanina, Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said China, Russia and Iran are all working to influence the 2020 election.

They spread disinformation on social media to “undermine U.S. democratic institutions and divide the country in advance of the elections,” Evanina warned.

“At the most basic level, we encourage Americans to consume information with a critical eye, check out sources before reposting or spreading messages, practice good cyber hygiene and media literacy, and report suspicious election-related activity to authorities,” Evanina said.

The Past 24 Hours or So – Protests/Race Relations, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Protests/Race Relations

The Fairfax County (VA) School Board voted to rename a high school named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Effective this fall, the school will be renamed to honor the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

Washington’s NFL team announced Thursday that it would call itself the “Washington Football Team” until it adopts a new, permanent name for the football franchise. The team, formerly known as the Washington Redskins, said in a statement that new team uniforms reflecting the change will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed a police accountability bill into law today that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis.

After being tear gassed in a crowd, Portland’s mayor and police commissioner Ted Wheeler denounced federal officers for “urban warfare.”

Some protesters, recalling the city police’s past use of tear gas, chided him: “You better be here every night, Ted!”

A federal judge in Oregon has temporarily blocked federal agents deployed in Portland, Oregon from threatening to arrest, arresting, or using force against journalists and legal observers who are at the ongoing protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd.

Chicago advocacy groups are filing a lawsuit to block the Trump administration from allowing federal agents to oversee peaceful protests in the city.

The Trump administration is sending a tactical border patrol team to Seattle, making good on President Trump’s pledge to use the full force of the federal government to protect property amid ongoing protests, The New York Times reports.

Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) had spoken with Department of Homeland Security acting Secretary Chad Wolf who told her that the administration didn’t have plans to deploy a large force of agents to the city and wouldn’t do so without communicating with her first. Durkan said that she hadn’t been made aware of the incoming federal team.

The mayor made it clear to Wolf that Seattle did not need the assistance of federal officers. “Any deployment here would, in my view, undermine public safety.”

Kansas City, MO Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) says he found out about President Trump’s plan to send federal law enforcement officers to his city over social media.

“I learned about Operation Legend from actually someone on Twitter who had notified me that it was occurring,” the Democratic mayor said in an interview Thursday. “Then I looked at a White House press briefing that had announced that it was, I guess, already in the works.”

The House and Senate passed the defense policy bill that sparked a veto threat from President Trump over its inclusion of a plan to rename bases named after Confederate figures, setting up a showdown with the president.

Both chambers cleared the two-thirds threshold for a veto-proof majority on the legislation that sets policy for the military and has been signed into law 59 straight years.

President Trump joined republicans who criticized Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

Trump tweeted: “Liz Cheney is only upset because I have been actively getting our great and beautiful Country out of the ridiculous and costly Endless Wars. I am also making our so-called allies pay tens of billions of dollars in delinquent military costs. They must, at least, treat us fairly!!!”

DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced his office is investigating the actions of DOJ law enforcement at protests in Portland and Washington, D.C., in recent months.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has announced assault charges against a police officer Richard Paul Nicoletti who pepper sprayed Black Lives Matter protesters in June.

According to Krasner’s statement, Nicoletti sprayed the faces of two of the kneeling protestors “without provocation.” He pulled down the goggles one was wearing for protection to spray her again. Nicoletti then approached a third seated protester, “reached down, grabbed and violently threw the protester onto his back, continually spraying him” with pepper spray. “Unable to see,” that protestor swung at the officer, making no contact.

Prior to the playing of the national anthem, every player and coach on the Yankees & Nationals took a knee. The same occurred later at the Dodgers & Giants game.

Trump Administration

A federal judge on Thursday ordered President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to be released from prison and into home confinement, ruling that the Justice Department retaliated against him over his planned tell-all book about the president.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said he will vote against President Trump’s controversial nomination of Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve Board. Romney is the first Republican senator to announce his opposition to Shelton, who will also likely be opposed by all 47 members of the Senate Democratic caucus, so the opposition of three more Republicans would effectively doom her nomination.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany argued President Trump’s well wishes for Ghislaine Maxwell were intended to convey that he wants to see justice served in the courtroom for the associate of Jeffrey Epstein facing sex crime and perjury charges.

President Trump once again defended his cognitive abilities in an interview by pointing – unprompted – to a test he took in 2018 that is designed to rule out cognitive impairment.

“Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV,” Trump said four times in an interview with Fox News, explaining that he was asked to recall and repeat a sequence of words at the beginning and end of the test. “If you get it in order, you get extra points.”

President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, discussing the novel coronavirus, arms control negotiations and other matters. Not discussed was the report of Russia paying bounties to Taliban members for the killing of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

In Retaliation for the Trump administration’s order to close China’s consulate in Houston, China announced on Friday that it had ordered the United States to shut its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

The Trump administration is lifting its rule blocking New Yorkers from enrolling in Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs. State residents were previously banned over New York’s law allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

President Trump announced that he will throw out a ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium next month.

President Trump said he would consider granting pardons for individuals implicated in former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

“I’ve looked at a lot of different people. They’ve been treated extremely unfairly, and I think I probably would, yes,” Trump told Sean Hannity.

Presidential Campaign

In a Facebook ad this week, President Trump’s campaign used a picture from a 2014 protest in Ukraine to depict what it claimed was “chaos & violence” unfolding around the U.S.

In a surprising turnaround, President Trump announced that republicans have scrapped plans to hold convention activities in Jacksonville, Florida.

Trump had moved the convention to Jacksonville after North Carolina’s governor raised public health concerns about having massive gatherings in Charlotte, as the GOP had planned.

A scaled down convention in Charlotte will still be held, Trump said.

A convention official described chaos inside the Republican National Committee after President Trump pulled the plug on convention activities in Jacksonville.

The official described the situation as “a multimillion dollar debacle.”

Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams and Mayor Lenny Curry (R) said in a joint statement they appreciate President Trump considering public health and canceling the convention.